#tzusing

[389]

[ruinedholograms]

绿帽 Green Hat (2023)

[radiophd]

tzusing -- 趁​人​之​危 (take advantage)

[azallea]

Playlist inspired by Ni, The Spooky, original character made for MotW.

[ruinedholograms]

绿帽 Green Hat (2023)

[clemencepoles]

Clémence’s Top Ten Albums of 2023

Nourished by Time 'Erotic Probiotic 2' [Scenic Route]

Kelela 'Raven' [Warp]

André 3000 'New Blue Sun' [Epic Records]

Mabe Fratti 'Se Ve Desde Aquí' [Unheard of Hope]

Dreamcrusher 'Suite TWO' [Self-released]

Sweeping Promises 'Good Living Is Coming For You' [Feel it Records]

Tirzah 'trip9love​.​.​.​?​?​?' [Domino ]

Donna Candy 'Blooming' [Bison]

Overmono 'Good Lies' [XL]

Feeble Little Horse 'Girl With Fish' [Saddle Creek]

*Favorite tracks of 2022 can be listened HERE.

**Notable mentions:

Biosphere 'Inland Delta' [Biophon Records]

Amor Muere 'A time to love, a time to die' [Scrawl World]

Yo La Tengo 'This Stupid World' [Matador]

Dry Cleaning 'Swampy EP' [4AD]

Tolerance 'Anonym' [MESH-KEY Records]

Hajj 'No Soul, No God, No Devil, No Existence' [Youth]

Josiah Steinbrick 'For Anyone That Knows You' [Unseen Worlds]

Christina Vantzou and John Also Bennett 'Κλίμα (Klima)' [Editions Basilic]

ytboutthataction 'love & vex' [DE22 & DMY]

Tzusing "绿帽 Green Hat" [Pan]

Snow Strippers 'April Mixtape 3' [Surf Gang Records]

David Edren & H.Takahashi 'Flow | 流れ' [Aguirre Records]

[typecoercion]

Tzusing on the wuxia character who shares a name with his debut album, 東方不敗 (dong fang bu bai)

From On 绿帽 Green Hat, Tzusing upturns traditional ideas of masculinity:

[...H]is 2017 debut 東方不敗 equally drew inspiration from Chinese folklore, taking inspiration from Dongfang Bubai, a fictional character who cuts off his penis to become the strongest person on Earth. “I like the character because it’s this idea of emasculating yourself to become the strongest person, so it fucks with this idea of the women being the weaker sex or whatever.”

From Tzusing—To Belong is Obsolete:

Claire Mouchemore: During your set at Supynes Festival back in 2019, a pair of eager hands grasped a copy of your debut album 東方不敗, waving the record high above the heads of those in the crowd in what seemed like an attempt at a song request. Although your set took an entirely different direction, that record remains the pinnacle of your discography. The story behind the genesis of those seven tracks, however, isn’t all that well known. The release depicts Dongfang Bubai, a character in Jin Yong’s novel The Smiling, Proud Wanderer: a tale of a man who must sacrifice his masculinity via castration. In the story, this act of surrender is said to achieve the ultimate level of power. What significance does this character represent in your life?

Tzu Sing Tho: I think I was in the fourth or fifth grade when I began to watch the film adaptations of Jin Yong’s novels. My folks weren’t big into music, but they were into film, and we’d often watch those movies together. I was instantly drawn to the character. I found them to be visually entrancing. In the book, the character Dongfang Bubai is represented as a man, whereas in the film, the character renders more feminine qualities. Her weapon is a mere needle and thread, which she uses to fight her opponents that are armed with heavy chains and enormous claws. The difference in weaponry seems quite unfair. I always liked this idea that being the most powerful isn’t always the most obvious thing. It isn’t always the big burly macho dude that holds the strength. It can look different. I’m very into these ideas. Everybody likes the David vs. Goliath story, right? 

The Wikipedia page for the character:

Dongfang Bubai, literally "Invincible East", is a fictional character in the wuxia novel The Smiling, Proud Wanderer by Jin Yong. [...] His castration and supreme prowess in martial arts make him one of the most memorable characters in Jin Yong's wuxia universe even though he appears in only one chapter of the novel. His name has also become virtually synonymous with homosexuality and LGBT sexual orientations in Chinese popular culture.[1] Brigitte Lin portrayed Dongfang Bubai in the 1992 film Swordsman II, a sequel to The Swordsman. [...] Lin's portrayal of Dongfang Bubai as a trans woman has influenced subsequent portrayals of the character; Dongfang Bubai has typically been depicted as a trans woman in television series based on The Smiling, Proud Wanderer since the 2000s. Dongfang Bubai is also referred to as "Invincible Asia" in the subtitles of Swordsman II and The East Is Red.